The GEO initiative on

Carbon and Greenhouse Gases:

Integration across domains

Werner L. Kutsch, Director General, ICOS ERIC

UNFCCC EarthInfoDay, Marrakech, 8. November 2016

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The top-down atmospheric

approach

Simulation ofColumn CO2 emissions

plumes

Simulation of total column CO2 (XCO2)

over Europe 20 Mar – 30 Apr 2008 at

7 km x 7 km resolution

Animation by Dominik Brunner (Empa),

model simulation by Yu Liu and Nicolas Gruber (ETH)

The Integrated Carbon Observation System

A European Research Infrastructure

Observations

Starting with a vision:

A global observation system

on carbon and GHG

fulfilling the needs of

the 21. Century

Models

Observations

Models

Observations

Integration

Models

Observations

Integration

Data sharing

Data management (incl. metadata)

Capacity building

Improve data harmonization

Improve inter-operability

Improve data accessibility

Data Citation

From data to

knowledge

Model-Data

Fusion

projects

SustainabilityIdentifying observational gaps

Communication

SBSTA

Observations Services Knowledge Decisions

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From Observations to Decisions

Activities of the GEO Carbon and GHG Initiative

Task 1 – User needs and policy interface:

to engage with users and policy makers and ensure the consistency

with their evolving needs in order to drive the activities of the GEO

Carbon and GHG Initiative and address the policy agenda.

Task 2 – Data access and availability:

to provide long-term, high quality and open access near-real-time

data and data products, complying with the GEOSS principles, from a

domain-overarching carbon cycle and GHGs monitoring system.

Task 3 – Optimization of observational networks:

to develop and implement a procedure for achieving observations of

identified essential carbon cycle variables within user-defined

specifications and at minimum total cost.

Task 4 –Budget calculations and breakdown across scales:

To support the development of consistent budgets of GHGs (CO2,

CH4, and N2O) across scales using a combination of observations,

inventories, models and data assimilation techniques.

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GEO-XII Plenary & Ministerial Summit

Mexico City 9-13 November 2015

• Ministerial Declaration that focuses on harnessing critical

environmental observations

• Adoption of a ten year Strategic Plan (2016-2025)

“GEO will supply the requisite Earth observations in

support of effective policy responses for climate change

adaptation, mitigation and other impacts across the SBAs.”

New Societal Benefit Areas (SBAs)

Climate change and its impacts cut across all SBAs

Background of the GEO Carbon and GHG Initiative

“Improve the inter-operability

with other carbon observation

systems, contributing to the

new GEO Strategy and the new

GEO 10 years Implementation

Plan (IP) for 2016-2025.”

“This report, the CEOS Strategy for

Carbon Observations from Space, is a

response from the Committee on

Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) to

the GEO Carbon Strategy. It details

the adequacy of past, present, and

planned satellite measurements of

carbon in the land, oceans and inland

waters, and atmosphere domains to

support GEO…”

“GEO through its Members and

Participating Organizations, has

begun work to implement a global

carbon observation and analysis

system addressing the three

components of the carbon cycle

(atmosphere, land and ocean) to

provide high quality information on

carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane

(CH4) concentrations, and emission

variations.”

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COPERNICUS CONCEPT FOR A VERIFICATION SYSTEM(CIAIS ET AL. 2015)

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Measurement stations

(National networks)

ICOS Carbon Portal

User 1 User 2 User 3

Ecosystem

Thematic

Centre

Atmospheric

Thematic

Centre

Oceanic

Thematic

Centre

Standardized

processing, quality

assurance & control

ICOS

repository

(data,

metadata)

Sensor data

• Data ingestion

• Metadata services

• Data discovery & access

• Usage tracking

• Data management

• Repository

administration

• Preservation planning

• User community support

Diverse user

communities, including

data producers and

other portals

High per-

formance

computing

services

Finalized

data productsMetadata

registry &

catalogue

services

B2SAFE

B2STAGE

PID

PID, AAI

B2FIND

PID

AAI

Calibration

Labs

The Data life cycle of ICOS2

Dr. habil. Werner L Kutsch, werner.kutsch@icos-ri.eu, www.icos-ri.eu

Task 2 – Data access and availability: the GEO workflow

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Task 3 – Optimization of observational networks:

Closing spatial observational gaps

Supporting new technologies and concepts

Translating user needs to observational concepts.

Dr. habil. Werner L Kutsch, werner.kutsch@icos-ri.eu, www.icos-ri.eu

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Features of the GEO Carbon and GHG Initiative

A framework / platform for cooperation

that is seeking integration across domains.

Builts on existing infrastructures

and supports their efforts to cooperate.

Providing opportunities

to optimize the data fabric from observations to decisions,

to identify geographical or conceptual gaps,

to gather additional resources from member countries.

Not running in parallel or duplicating other efforts

but seeking cooperation and communication.

Dr. habil. Werner L Kutsch, werner.kutsch@icos-ri.eu, www.icos-ri.eu

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!

Dr. habil. Werner L Kutsch, werner.kutsch@icos-ri.eu, www.icos-ri.eu